Fallout 3 - Previews #2

On Story - The main storyline of the game will run around 20 hours, with side quests fleshing the total out to around 40. The game currently has 9-12 endings in place, and the devs seemed to suggest there could be even more down the line. The story is highly mutable, meaning you can make choices that destroy entire quest lines and or open new ones.

The main result of all this is that Fallout 3's content is packed much more densely. The slightly smaller world and drastically smaller number of NPCs means that individual characters and locations can be infused with more personality. Bethesda hopes to eliminate the issue of "cloned" NPCs—each character should be unique, not simply exist as a walking signpost. The company has even bumped up the number of voice actors it is hiring to somewhere between 30 and 40, to avoid having to use the same lines again and again.
Along with this comes the next big set of improvement's to the studio's proprietary Radiant AI. While the underlying artificial intelligence behind Oblivion's NPCs were impressive—to the point that Bethesda had to tune it down to prevent them from being too unpredictable—it did not always make for an end result of entertaining actions. Characters frequently had their own agendas, but many times such an agenda would simply be to take a walk.

20 hours? Geez, everything I had head sounded cool, but that doesnt sound good. I want a BIG game, a huge story, something to really bite my teeth into! I dont spent all the money for a longer weekend! Thats not the scope of a fallout game, even it it were an addon, I would call it small. Hope this isnt the final word.

Elikal

Originally Posted by Elikal
20 hours? Geez, everything I had head sounded cool, but that doesnt sound good. I want a BIG game, a huge story, something to really bite my teeth into! I dont spent all the money for a longer weekend! Thats not the scope of a fallout game, even it it were an addon, I would call it small. Hope this isnt the final word.

I disagree, I think thats actually good news. You can't have a lot of plot branching, character type tailored content, tough consequences (e.g. shutting off and opening up certain portions of the game as result of your actions) real replay value, in short, a lot of choose and pick gameplay and also have 180 hour gameplay. Having that kind of playtime is great for Sandbox games like TES, but a Fallout like game needs to focus. Fallout 1 was a short game, but it was also deep. One of the better news I'd say, especially as giving a higher number would be better hype, so this one is more likely to be true

Originally Posted by GhanBuriGhan
I disagree, I think thats actually good news. You can't have a lot of plot branching, character type tailored content, tough consequences (e.g. shutting off and opening up certain portions of the game as result of your actions) real replay value, in short, a lot of choose and pick gameplay and also have 180 hour gameplay. Having that kind of playtime is great for Sandbox games like TES, but a Fallout like game needs to focus. Fallout 1 was a short game, but it was also deep. One of the better news I'd say, especially as giving a higher number would be better hype, so this one is more likely to be true

We also have to take into credit, that EVERY game company is exaggerating! So they add 30% time AT LEAST, so the real time is likely even smaller, so you come to 40 hours altogether if your turn around every stone and leaf and play combat pressing pause button every 5 secs!

The truth is, ALL RPGs with so few hours gameplay had a severe malus in all reviews! And justly so. I just dont pay 50 Euro for a weekend game. End of the story. Thats the playtime for a short action shooter game! From a company like Bethesda, which made huge game worlds, I really had expected something bigger.
Combining this with the saying "all NPCs are meaningful" sounds like a miniature world.

One of the things that made Baldurs Gate (the city in the game of the same name) or any Fallout 2 city feel like a real city just WERE those hundrets of meaningless NPCs passing by, having nothing to say. I am really a bit doubtful with all this surfacing. Call me macho, but I think size DOES matter, and all those "but its the quality" are those who are small. =P I mean, ok some folks maybe love that expensive "cuisine" where you get a super tiny piece of meat and 3 rice corns, but always prefer a big plate with much to eat and chose from any day.

Elikal

WEll, I like big sandbox games. But I dont think Fallout 3 should be one. I want replay value over playtime on a single play through. Fallout is really all about replay value. In fact you can't really realize how cool the game is until you have played it with different characters, seen different endings, etc.

Originally Posted by GhanBuriGhan
WEll, I like big sandbox games. But I dont think Fallout 3 should be one. I want replay value over playtime on a single play through. Fallout is really all about replay value. In fact you can't really realize how cool the game is until you have played it with different characters, seen different endings, etc.

Well, if I pay 50 Euro, I want entertainer a longer time than just a weekend. Money has to be relected in quantity SOMEHOW. At least for me. *shrug*

Game time to entertainment value ratio is relative to genre. Twenty hours is acceptable in an intense highly scripted shooter like Call of Duty because it's non-stop action all the way. Twenty hours for an RPG is nothing. The preview stated fourty hours for everything including side quests which is better, but still not that great. However if that doesn't factor in time spent just exploring the landscape, and taking replayablity into account, it could be ok.

Many will be pleased to know that Fallout 3 does not use Oblivion's relative leveling system. As in most RPGs, if you come back to an area you found earlier in the game, its enemies will still be the same level they were when you were ten levels lower. "In Oblivion, we discounted the value of the player to kick holy ass for a while," admitted Howard.

Or have their ass kicked, one is valueless without the other. But well done Howard, it takes a big man to admit when he's wrong. None-the-less, after the previous RPG travesty, mortification of the flesh is the only way you'll ever enter the kingdom of heaven. Five times a day, cat o' nine tails, while chanting: "I must NEVER, EVER, implement level scaling in a game again - EVER".

OK, look at this way then. 40 US dollars for 40 hours = 1 dollar pr. hour. A movie ticket is about 8-10 US dollars for a 2 hour movie. Thats like 4-5 dollars pr. hour.

As for the length of the game, I'm ok with that. It's probably an average based on several run throughs. Jade Empire was about that long, I think. Some players finished the game in 10 hours, others finished the game in 50-60 hours or so.

I would rather have a short qualitative game well done game than a lenghty game
that has no content or no quality at all…

Originally Posted by aries100
OK, look at this way then. 40 US dollars for 40 hours = 1 dollar pr. hour. A movie ticket is about 8-10 US dollars for a 2 hour movie. Thats like 4-5 dollars pr. hour.

I agree completely! Gaming is an extremely cheap type of entertainment! I mean, 1 dollar per hour - how many other ways can you get entertainment at that price? Movies, amusement parts, going to a restaurant etc - all is much more expensive. And the 1 dollar per hour is even for a completely new game, and assuming you'll never replay it. After a short while the game will hit a bargain bin, and then the price/hour ratio gets completely ridiculous. I picked up "Gothic 2 Gold" for $20 when I last visited the states - try calculating the price/hour ratio for that deal! And here in Denmark there are online shops that have 500+ titles for $15 or less. Seriously, I can't understand people who thinks gaming is an expensive hobby (except maybe for small kids that has to pay for games from their allowance).

a 20 hour game is not worth the money. ditto on the exaggerated playtime comment. I haven't seen a company that didn't do this. I don't replay games and I dislike sidequests that take me off my focus. Perfect example of a disaster was IWD:HoW. I think I speak for a silent majority of players who don't make commetns at all. If they give us a 20 hour game it will just choke. Some of you say that's a good thing now but wait until you fire up the game.

Originally Posted by Lucky Day
a 20 hour game is not worth the money. ditto on the exaggerated playtime comment. I haven't seen a company that didn't do this. I don't replay games and I dislike sidequests that take me off my focus. Perfect example of a disaster was IWD:HoW. I think I speak for a silent majority of players who don't make commetns at all. If they give us a 20 hour game it will just choke. Some of you say that's a good thing now but wait until you fire up the game.

Originally Posted by Lucky Day
I think I speak for a silent majority of players who don't make commetns at all.

No, you don't. The "silent majority" never even finishes most of their games and quits playing them after just a few hours because the games become boring/repetitive and/or because real life is calling and then the game just "rots" away on the hard drive for days/weeks/months, never to be played again. Just keep an eye out for polls on the subject on gaming websites. The "I always finish my games" option usually gets sub-10&#37; of the votes. And that's polls on gaming websites which are only visited by the more hardcore gamers who are more likely to finish their games.

Personally, I very much prefer shorter games because of limited spare time for gaming and because there's always that other, newer game waiting to be played so I really don't have a need for or even like overly epic games all that much. Besides, I'll take a fun, intense 20 hour game over a 100 hour long, boring (BioWare) epic any day of the week. Quality > Quantity IMHO.

If you want to do everything in this game it would be more like bettween 240 to 480 hours or more since it looks like there will be 12+ endings and all quests will have multiple branches that you can take so you would have to play through a lot of times with various charecters to get everything out of the game.